by Zachary Olson, ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow [About the author]
In October 2025, I had the opportunity to take part in a national gathering of the Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) community of practice in our nation’s capital. Over 70 people from across the country came to Washington, D.C., bringing their stories, their experiences and their. In the midst of a federal government shutdown, these brave Lutherans were a public witness and shined a light to the members of Congress. They shared their experiences in the offices of Senators and Representatives in boldly advocating for laws that would reform emergency management and disaster response. These Lutherans spoke up to help people in their communities recovering from natural disasters.
I will always carry this memory with me, and it reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:14-15 to be “salt and light” in our Christian walk. Often, we connect these verses with Jesus’ Great Commission [see Matthew 28:19-20] to spread the truth of the Gospel of Christ into the world, but this radical truth possesses implications for us in our public witness before the world in how we move through the world. That can look as simple as talking to a neighbor or as bold as speaking to lawmakers. We are called to be that city on the hill, letting our light shine for others to see.
When we are grounded in the truth of the Gospel and let our convictions shape us and our actions, we engage with the world differently. We should be moved towards compassion, doing justice and loving mercy. And that light should flow out into our daily walk in this world.
This truth and hope for restoration of the struggles we see is for the here and now. Our hope is not that we will escape this world and go to heaven, but that heaven will come down here, and that God will dwell among us with every tear wiped away.
Our faith gives us a renewed sense of the world and a renewed outlook on life. When we see each other as beings created in the image of our God, when we see this world we live in as God’s handiwork, that changes you. It changes how you interact with it. We have hope for a better future, and a responsibility to share that hope with those around us.
We have a great history of those who have gone before us in letting their light shine. Martin Luther King Jr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and many others have gone before us in letting their lights shine. Let us continue in that great history, letting the light of Christ shine in the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zachary Olson is part of the D.C.-based staff of the ELCA Witness in Society office specializing in Communications. Olson is a communications and journalism graduate student at American University with an Associate Degree in Communications and Media Studies from Carroll Community College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from American University. He has several years of research and communications experience working with non-profits from local news media to advocacy think tanks. Beyond work, he enjoys spending time with friends, reading books and conducting his own research.
